1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an alcohol-based antiseptic surgical scrub, which leaves an anti-microbial invisible film or “glove” on the hands, following alcohol evaporation.
2. Description of Related Art
Diligent hand washing and the wearing of gloves by healthcare professionals are essential components of effective infection control in the healthcare environment. Healthcare professionals regularly wash their hands and wear gloves to control the spread of bacteria and infection from patient to patient, and to themselves.
Hand washing procedures are performed in several ways and include products such as an ordinary anti-microbial bar soap, skin disinfecting or pre-operative agents or rubbing alcohol. Such procedures and products contain anti-microbial agents such as alcohol, iodine, chlorhexidine digluconate, chloroxylenol, triclosan and hexachlorophenes. Gloving by the healthcare workers is a normal practice in the hospital setting to create a barrier that protects themselves and the patient from transmitted bacteria.
Healthcare workers commonly use scrub brushes impregnated with anti-microbial agents for antiseptic hand washing prior to surgical procedures and other invasive patient care procedures. These impregnated scrub brushes have proven to be an effective method of reducing the spread of infection in the healthcare setting. Anti-microbial solutions are specially designed for use in the scrub brush where the mechanical action of scrubbing with the brush creates a foam or lather. Before performing a surgical procedure, the surgical team uses surgical scrubs to disinfect their hands with such a standardized scrub procedure, usually lasting 5 to 10 minutes, then don sterile gloves before initializing the surgical procedure.
Alcohols, in general, are recognized for their disinfection properties. Rubbing alcohol, containing 70% ethyl alcohol (Formula 23-H) and 30% water, and isopropyl rubbing alcohol, containing 70% isopropyl alcohol and 30% water, are commonly used disinfectants. Alcohol is a potent anti-microbial agent, and, if used with surgical scrub, will cause significant mean log reduction of bacterial counts on the hands of healthcare workers. However, the use of alcohols for surgical scrubs has never become popular in the United States of America, even though the compound has very good properties for immediate reduction of microbial flora on the hands. This may be due to the fact that alcohol is a defatting agent. When applied to the human skin, it can make the skin very dry, often leading to chapped and cracked skin. These characteristics thus often result in difficult and painful sensitivity for the users.
The prior art includes many examples of varying antiseptic skin cleaners and wipes, some of which include alcohol. U.S. Pat. No. 4,678,606 discloses a personal liquid cleaning composition having a primary surfactant selected from the group of anionic, cationic, zwitterionic, amphoteric and semipolar surfactants, an auxiliary surfactant selected from certain ethoxylated aliphatic alcohols and a water-soluble polymeric thickening agent. U.S. Pat. No. 4,374,126 discloses an alcohol insoluble antimicrobial topical lotion including a lower acrylate interpolymer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,512,199 discloses an antimicrobial hand wipe which includes an alcohol. U.S. Pat. No. 6,180,584 is directed to a film forming antimicrobial composition. Notably, this composition is an alcohol-free anti-microbial skin sanitizing composition.
However, none of these prior art products provide the benefits of the presently disclosed surgical scrub composition, which not only includes alcohol, but also provides the desired invisible, anti-microbial long-lasting film on the hands following solvent evaporation.